The present apparatus is related to the field of fish butchering apparatus and more particularly to such apparatus utilized to prepare an eviscerated vertebrate fish for human consumption.
Fish bones, particularly the elongated needle-like ribs of the large vertebrate fish present a substantial problem to both consumers and the fish preparing and marketing industry. The rib bones are not only difficult to remove from cooked or uncooked fish, but are potentially harmful when ingested. Therefore, it is very desirable to either totally remove the bones from a fish prior to cooking or to reduce the bones to an ingestible size. In addition, the tedious process of removing bones from vertebrate fish often results in a loss of up to fifteen percent of the edible adjacent flesh. The present invention is therefore concerned with an apparatus for cutting the rib bones of a fish into shortened lengths that are safe for ingestion. The composition of the bones presents no health hazard and can in fact add important nutrients.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a bone sectioning tool that will effectively reduce fish rib bones to lengths that are safely ingestible.
A further object is to provide such a tool that will enable sectioning of the fish rib bones without otherwise harming or wasting the adjacent flesh.
A still further object is to provide such a tool that may be adapted for use as a hand-held, manually operable tool or may be incorporated into a machine for automatic production-line functioning.
These and still further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description which, taken with the accompanying drawings, describe a preferred form of the invention. It is to be noted however, that the drawings and following description are given only by way of example to set forth one form of the invention. They are not intended to place restrictions upon the scope of my invention, which is defined by the claims found at the end of the description.